Adib Domingos Jatene (June 4, 1929 – November 14, 2014) was a noted Brazilian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

of Lebanese background, university

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and

thoracic surgeon Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

. He is remembered as the inventor of the

arterial switch operation Arterial switch operation (ASO) or arterial switch, is an open heart surgical procedure used to correct dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA). Its development was pioneered by Canadian cardiac surgeon William Mustard and it was na ...

(sometimes called the Jatene arterial switch), a surgical technique to correct

transposition of the great vessels Transposition of the great vessels (TGV) is a group of congenital heart defects involving an abnormal spatial arrangement of any of the great vessels: superior and/or inferior venae cavae, pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins, and aorta. Congenita ...

in the newborn.

Early life and education

Jatene was born on June 4, 1929 in the city of Xapuri in the Brazilian state Acre. He was the son of Lebanese immigrants, Domingos Antonio Jatene and Anice Adib Jatene. His father was a merchant who traded with rubber tappers. Jatene's father died from yellow fever when Jatene was 2 years old. The family subsequently moved to the city

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest municipality in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the fou ...

in the Brazilian state

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

where his mother established a business. In 1947, Jatene then moved to São Paulo, where he studied sciences at the

Colégio Bandeirantes de São Paulo Colégio Bandeirantes is a private secondary school located in São Paulo, opened in 1934. The school has students from many parts of the city and also from different states of Brazil. It is a co-educational, privately funded institution which ...

. At the age of 23, Jatene graduated from the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

Faculty of Medicine. After graduation, he remained in São Paulo for two years of cardiac surgery training at the São Paulo University Hospital under the guidance of Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini until 1955.

Career

Jatene was one of the founders of the

University of São Paulo Heart Institute A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

He became Secretary of Health of the city of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

and later Minister of Health of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

for both the

Fernando Collor de Mello Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Coll ...

and

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Brazi ...

administrations. During his time as minister, he idealized the CPMF tax aimed at financing the health system. He was a member of the

Brazilian Academy of Medicine The Academia Nacional de Medicina (ANM) is the Brazilian national academy of medicine. The academy was founded during the Brazilian imperial period on 30 June 1829, under the name of ''Sociedade de Medicina do Rio de Janeiro''. On 8 May ...

, and has published over 270 scientific academic studies.

Death

Jatene died on November 14, 2014 of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in São Paulo, Brazil, aged 85.

References

1929 births 2014 deaths Brazilian thoracic surgeons Brazilian people of Lebanese descent University of São Paulo alumni Brazilian people of Arab descent Members of the Brazilian Academy of Medicine University of São Paulo faculty People from Acre (state) Health ministers of Brazil {{Brazil-med-bio-stub